At the coronation of Her Majesty The Queen, ten heraldic beasts stood guard. The Queen’s Beasts, sculpted by James Woodford RA for the coronation ceremony held in Westminster Abbey in 1953, stand six feet tall. The heraldic creatures symbolized the various strands of royal ancestry brought together in a young woman about to be crowned queen. Each proud beast, used as a heraldic badge by generations that went before her, was inspired by the King’s Beasts of Henry VIII that still line the bridge over the moat at his Hampton Court Palace. !

On this amazing 3 Euro coin of the sixth edition a parrot is shown in color. In the 12-part series, parts of the colored motif are printed with fluorescent colors and glow in the dark. There are many...